Turkish PM says "we will not allow our ships to be exposed to Israeli attacks"; Israeli official: We are trying to avoid war of words.

Even as Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday characterized the crisis with
Ankara as “spilt milk,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened that
Turkish gunboats would accompany Turkish “humanitarian” vessels the next time
they set sail for Gaza.

The marked contrast in tone between the two
leaders reflects the very different approaches Ankara and Jerusalem have taken
to the current imbroglio, with Israeli ministers speaking little, and then
relatively moderately about the situation, while Erdogan is leading a chorus of
senior Turkish officials, from the president on down to the agriculture
minister, lambasting and threatening Israel on a daily basis.

“Our policy
remains the same: We are trying our best to avoid a war of words with Turkey,
looking for practical ways to change the momentum, to change the direction,” one
official said.

The official said that even Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, during his speech on Wednesday night at a navy ceremony in Haifa in
which he spoke of the justice of Israel’s cause in relation to last year’s Mavi
Marmara incident, steered clear of any attacks on Turkey or Erdogan.

Each
word of that speech was scrutinized carefully in the Prime Minister’s Office
before delivery.

“The fact that we are not saying anything does not mean
we have adopted the philosophy of turning the other cheek,” one government
official said. “It just shows that we are doing what we can to stem the negative
tide, and keep options open for more positive developments.”

Barak, in an
Israel Radio interview, said that “ultimately this wave will pass. We recognize
reality.

They recognize reality. We are the two countries that are most
important to the West in the region... I am certain that we can overcome these
[disagreements].”

The main thing, Barak said, “was not to get confused,
not to get into a tailspin. Turkey is not about to become an enemy of Israel and
we have no cause to waste invective and energy over this.”

Also on
Thursday, the American ambassador to Ankara, Francis Ricciardone, was quoted on
the Turkish Hurriyet website as saying that Washington expected Israel and
Turkey to normalize their relations as soon as possible. Ricciardone, according
to Hurriyet, said Turkish- Israeli relations were of crucial importance for
regional stability, and expressed sorrow at the current turn of
events.

The US has reportedly been active behind the scenes trying to put
a lid on the crisis, even though one Israeli official said he knew of no “road
map” in the making to return ties to a more normal footing.

Erdogan,
meanwhile, continued to up the ante, saying in an Al Jazeera interview that
Turkish warships were directed to protect Turkish ships bringing humanitarian
aid to the Gaza Strip, and that from now on “we will not allow our ships to be
exposed to Israeli attacks, as was the case with the Mavi Marmara, because if
this happens Israel will meet the appropriate response.”

At the same
time, it was announced in Cairo that Egypt and Turkey will hold a joint naval
maneuver in Turkish territorial waters by the end of the year. Erdogan is
scheduled to go to Egypt on Monday.

Israel Radio, meanwhile, reported
that in the Al Jazeera interview, Erdogan took an even tougher stance toward
Syria than to Israel, saying that a “heavy shadow” was hanging over the
continued legitimacy of Bashar Assad’s regime. Erdogan said he had cut off all
connection with the Syrian leader.

In Syria, according to the report, a
key Assad supporter went on state television and linked Erdogan’s present
attitude toward Israel to a desire to deflect attention from Ankara’s decision
last week to place a NATO early-warning radar system in Turkey aimed at
thwarting missile threats from Iran.

The Assad supporter said Erdogan’s
behavior toward Israel was aimed at providing “cover” for the real crisis that
Turkey will now have with Iran and Syria over the placement of the early-warning
radar system, which he said would serve to protect Israel, on Turkish
soil.

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